Alex Gino: 'I knew I was different as a kid'

Alex Gino, the genderqueer author whose new middle grade book George features a trans protagonist, spoke to teen site member John Hansen about writing a trans character for children, working with David Levithan, and recommends their favourite children’s and YA books with LGBTQ+ themes

George by Alex Gino, a middle grade novel just published in the UK, is making waves. Following Melissa, a transgender fourth grader who the world calls George, it covers everything from theatre to school bullies to a happy-tears-inducing relationship between Melissa and her best friend Kelly. But what is perhaps most revolutionary about the novel is the empathy through which it explores Melissa’s isolation and her frustration with not being seen for the girl she is.

Alex Gino – a genderqueer author, gardener, and We Need Diverse Books member – has crafted an honest and ultimately hopeful novel that everyone needs to read. It is a much-needed addition to the realm of LGBTQ+ middle grade literature, and I was so pleased to be able to discuss the book with Mx Gino.

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George is an incredible novel, and Melissa herself is a lovable, dynamic character. How much do the two of you have in common?

Well, we’re both trans, white, bad at sports, and grew up in New York. (I grew up in Staten Island; she lives an hour north of the city). We both want to be seen for who we are, and we both love Mario Kart! In other ways, we’re not all that similar. I knew I was different as a kid, but I could never have named my gender as clearly as Melissa knows for herself. Part of that is about the fact that I’m genderqueer. Another part is that Melissa was born into a different culture than I was, one in which she’s able to find the word transgender and what it means outside of an afternoon talk show brawl.

Did you encounter any pushback from agents or editors because George features a trans protagonist?

Through a careful combination of research, timing and luck – no. I got in touch with my agent, Jennifer Laughran, because of her vocal advocacy for LGBT characters and stories in children’s literature, and my editor, David Levithan, is himself a trailblazer in the field of gay YA as the author of Boy Meets Boy and over a dozen other novels with modern queer content.

Which is not to say that cissexism and transphobia aren’t as common in children’s literature as anywhere else, and there are probably plenty of agents and editors who would have passed on the work based on its subject matter. But there ARE also agents and editors out there looking for quality trans youth literature. It’s all about research.

And timing. And luck. But look at me, repeating myself.

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I often hear marginalized authors talk about the tendency to self-censor – to erase the diverse elements in a story in advance out of fear that keeping them would tank the book’s marketability. Did you ever experience this? If so, how did you combat it?

I was never intending George to be marketable. I was just focused on telling the story I needed to see in the world, until I looked up and saw the distant wave coming closer, and I knew it was time to finish it up, take the plunge, and send it out into the world.

As I’m working on my new project, which is more intersectional (involving issues of deafness, the Black Lives Matter movement, intergenerational strife and first crushes), I’m running into a new terrain of balancing the varying threads of the piece. I have to think carefully about when I’m representing a member of a group I’m part of and when I’m allying with those I care about.

Because no interview is complete without some book recommendations: are there any other middle grade novels with LGBTQ+ themes that you think everyone needs to read?

There’s Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky, which is the only other trans MG novel I’m aware of from a mainstream publisher, and 5-6-7-Nate! and its sequel by Tim Federle. Interestingly, we all play with the theme of being on stage as a way to try on identities and to reveal who we are. The queer MG field is small, very small, and in that sense I would say everyone has to read them. And I want and we need there to be more.

I’m excited that both Kate Rain Hill and Arin Andrews put out autobiographies last year, though both are YA. Robin Talley also has a great genderqueer theme in her upcoming What We Left Behind (also YA). And I’m going to go ahead and do it; I’m going to recommend a book for (gasp) grown-ups. It’s the only book for adults that I’ve read in the last year and a half; it’s Redefining Realness by Janet Mock, and it’s beautiful. Her words are so genuine, and she shares so deeply of herself without ever feeling exploitive. For adults, it’s a MUST. READ.

What would you like to see more of in the realm of trans kidlit?

Trans voices telling trans stories. There is a layer of depth and truth that comes from people writing from inside their communities that can never be replicated by people outside it. Also, more intersectionality! More people of colour, more people with disabilities, more stories that reflect, respect and celebrate the range of people we are. And more stories with joy.

What are the best LGBT books for children, teenagers and YAs?

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Let’s close on a weird note. Say you could mash up any fictional character with any fictional world and then watch what happens. What pairing would you choose?

The freedom is overwhelming!! Oh, I know! Let’s put Anastasia Krupnik (Lois Lowry’s pre-teen character who was snarky before the rest of us knew it was cool) in Alice in Wonderland. It’s a play to those two librarians in the back of the room, but I want to see her “List of Things I HATE about This Place” and “Reasons a Worm Shouldn’t Sit On A Mushroom”.